Hypnotic
by muggleborn.dragon.ryder
Summary: Fourteen years old, Hiccup decides all he needs is his best friend, Toothless. The people of Berk only bully him and tease him and his father plans to put him in dragon training, which he just KNOWS he will fail at. So he decides to run with the only person who ever loved him. He doesn't need Berk anymore. But when he leaves, it's revealed how much they need him. AU.
1. A journey's got to start somewhere

**A/N: My new story! (Any ROTG fans that read my work in that as well, I politely ask you to ignore my gigantic absence from Our Duty is to Protect and Shattered.)**

**The original title was When the Sun Goes Down and it might get changed back to that. Warning this story is kinda heavy it is not happy at all.**

* * *

Hiccup stared at the forge, wondering when he would ever see it again.

He hadn't told anyone anything…except for Gobber.

"_Gobber?"_

"_Yeah, Hiccup?"_

"_Do you think…" the words tumbled out of Hiccup's mouth before he could stop them. "If I were to die or run away, would I be missed?"_

"_Hiccup!" Gobber's indignation should have been clue enough; yet Hiccup plunged on, finally ready to say what he had been thinking these past few weeks. "I mean, sure, maybe people would notice that the screw-up isn't here anymore, but who would miss me, really?"_

So Hiccup had left a long letter in the forge for Gobber to see the next day.

It had thanked Gobber for all he had done for the boy, but at the same time, Hiccup had been honest with Gobber: He couldn't do this anymore.

So Hiccup set out alone, only a few clothes and precious belongings in his pack.

The village was asleep, the snow glistening softly in the moonlight.

Hiccup knew it would be cold out there by himself, but he also knew he was used to being cold.

And physical discomfort was so much better than what he had to endure on Berk.

He walked deep into Raven's Point Forest, knowing he mustn't stay on the island for any longer than he had to. He would find a way off the island through Raven's Point Forest; he had found it before.

Though that time, it had been dusk when he had.

"_Wow!" _

_He threw himself forward, watching the dazzling sun, setting slowly behind the water, like nature's own version of peek-a-boo._

"_Hiccup, come back." The voice had been stern and severe and he suddenly remembered he was not alone._

_Astrid Hofferson watched him, long blonde hair trailing down her back, hands on her hips. "Hiccup, get back here!"_

"_Look, Astrid," Hiccup said softly, leading her out into the sunset and showing her the perfect little meadow, leading off the island. It trailed into the water after awhile, but you could walk for miles without reaching ocean._

"_Do you realize what this means?"_

"_Yep," Astrid said with a smile. "The end of the forest."_

"_Of course not!" Hiccup said with a chuckle. "It's a way off the island, we could run away! We could—_

"_Get killed by dragons, drown ourselves trying to swim away, fail trying to build a boat and besides that, leave the only place we've ever called home behind? I don't think so. Come back here and stop spouting crazy ideas."_

Astrid had tried to discourage Hiccup from running off, but though they were still on friendly terms, not even Astrid could stop the idea that had taken hold of Hiccup.

He went back to the meadow, walking on the moss and walking…walking…

Suddenly, he became aware of someone – or something – dogging his footsteps.

Yet every time he turned around, there was nothing there, save for the utter blackness.

Eventually, he turned and kept walking, telling himself that if this was how he was going to react to everything, he was going to go right back to Berk and forget the idea of ever leaving.

Yet the idea made him want to cry.

He couldn't stand being told he was worthless anymore; he was done hearing that he was a mistake.

So he plunged bravely, recklessly on, until he found the cove. Then he called, "Toothless! Toothless!"

And a fully-grown Night Fury launched himself out of the thick canopy of trees, pinned Hiccup to the ground, and eagerly licked his face.

Hiccup chuckled and shoved him off. "Yeah, I missed you, too. Well, c'mon, it's time to go!"

Toothless was ecstatic; he and Hiccup had been planning this for weeks and now the moment had finally come.


	2. Why?

Gobber found the note that day in the forge, just seconds before Stoick the Vast hurtled in.

"Where is Hiccup?" Stoick asked. "Is he here with you? Has he gone and gotten himself in trouble again?"

Gobber slowly handed the paper to Stoick.

_Gobber, _

Hiccup's familiar, cramped handwriting made the man's throat feel tight,

_I just wanted to thank you for all you've done for me and for putting up with me even when I drove you crazy with all my talking and ideas. Thanks for supporting me and being there for me, even when no one else was._

_You were like a father to me for a really long time and I can't express how grateful I am for your care and support._

_I'll really miss you, but I can't stay on Berk._

_Thanks._

_Hiccup_

The boy's handwriting was so familiar to Stoick: small and cramped, a mix of messy and neat, though it was much neater than most Vikings'.

Let alone the fact that he knows how to write at all, Stoick thought.

Most Vikings were not taught how to read and write: rather, how to kill dragons and do it well.

Stoick finally spoke. "Why…why did he leave?"

Gobber didn't speak, but Stoick knew the man well enough to tell when he simply had nothing to say and when he just knew the listener didn't want to hear what he had planned to say.

This was most definitely the latter.

"What are you thinking, Gobber?"

The blacksmith hesitated. "Well, Stoick…" Suddenly, he blurted, "Didn't it ever occur to you to keep up with Hiccup's life before he went out and risked it?"

Stoick suddenly realized what Gobber was getting at. "I…I…"

"I understand that you're the chief, and chiefs have no room for mistakes," Gobber told Stoick gravely. "But that's the message you're sending Hiccup: that you've got no room for HIM."

Stoick put a hand on his head. "How could he think that? I've only tried to keep him safe…"

"I know that, but he doesn't see it that way," Gobber replied. "I think deep down, the kid knows you care about him, but Stoick, caring about Hiccup isn't enough. You've got to BE A FATHER, Stoick!" Gobber's words were harsh and cold, but his tone was exceedingly gentle.

Stoick swallowed hard. "How can I, now? He's gone and gotten himself in trouble again, he's run away, he can barely handle himself…oh, Gobber…"

Gobber put a comforting hand on the chief's shoulder.

For a few moments, there was silence.

"I'll send out search parties."

* * *

**A/N: So, what do you think? We'll get back to Hiccup and Toothless in chapter 3.**


	3. No Regrets, cuz I can't turn back

Hiccup laughed joyously, banishing the last of his grief. Way up here, in the quiet darkness of nighttime as the sun slowly rose over Berk, it didn't really matter what Hiccup's old life had been like.

This was his new life, with Toothless, and he wasn't going to screw it up.

He flew higher, watching the pale yellow clouds drift closer, hinting at sunrise.

Then the sun really rose. It was beautiful: veins of brilliant pink shot through with pale yellow and blinding white shot across the sky, tiny hints of deep purple mixed in.

The clouds were enormous this close, and Hiccup dangled out of the saddle to touch one…his fingers ran right through the misty vapor, and he laughed with delight, then dropped his fingers and patted Toothless' head.

"Thanks bud."

They flew farther out to sea.

* * *

The top half of some raw cod slid off Toothless' tongue onto the ground, and he nudged it at Hiccup with his paw.

Hiccup smiled. "Uh, no thanks, I'm good." It was the same excuse he'd used last time, complete with his own cooked fish on a stick.

He wasn't very hungry though, another thing that made him so vastly different from the other Vikings: they all had enormous appetites, and were often surprised that he didn't eat as much.

Hiccup took a small bite of the fish and held it on his lap as he looked out to sea at the fully risen sun.

"Oh, Toothless, it's a beautiful day isn't it?" he sighed.

Toothless just looked at him.

"A day of beginnings. Today was made for beginnings, wasn't it?"

Toothless didn't answer; he picked up on his rider's rather blue mood, however, and chalked it up to homesickness.

He would miss the wet little isle as well, perhaps less than his red-haired toothpick.

He nuzzled his rider's shoulder, and Hiccup smiled.

Glad that his rider was cheering up, Toothless licked him and Hiccup laughed, wiping the saliva off his cheek.

He gently stroked Toothless' head, then let his hand fall, resting his fingers on the rocky beach.

He discarded the fish, of which he'd only taken a small bite of, and said, "Okay, c'mon, Toothless, where are we gonna go?"

Toothless gave him a confused look.

Hiccup sighed. "No, I didn't have a plan. I thought about this, though, long and hard, and I knew it was what I wanted to do. I don't regret it."

* * *

**A/N: So, what did you guys think? I'm adding an OC in like, chapter five, I want to say? IDK. I have big plans for an OC dragon lol but the dragon doesn't have a very big part, it's only brought in for Hiccup to get depressed all over again. I am mean to poor Hiccup in this fic :D And in all my others *Coughs* To be loved the way you love me, Banishing Hiccup, Just a couple of teens, Lie to me, Like a strike of lightning, My real father, Save me, Telling Hiccup goodbye, I'm sorry too, Notebook, Waiting and What never was. *Coughs* Whoa, I have a lot of stories where I am cruel to Hiccup!**


	4. Where He Left His Goodbye

The search party scouted the entire village, except for a remote cove blocked by boulders. The entrance was too small for your average Viking to squeeze through.

But Hiccup _wasn't _your average Viking, and that's what worried Stoick: all sorts of clues to his whereabouts could lurk in that cove, and no one could get at them.

And then Spitelout reminded him of the Hofferson girl. "She's got a lot of strength, unlike your boy, but she's about his size in height and girth. Maybe she could fit through the entrance."

Of course! Stoick thought to himself. Why hadn't he thought of that?

He asked Astrid to check for the cove for them, a task she gladly accepted.

And so the beauty set off, leaving Stoick to worry in his hut.

* * *

Astrid squeezed through the entrance to the cove with ease, but found herself looking down from a great height.

She sighed. This just couldn't get any harder, could it?

But apparently it could. Because the height was due to a large pile of boulders, all precariously stacked one on top of the other.

Astrid slowly slid down them, reflecting either that Hiccup had more agility than she did, or she was out of shape.

She didn't find anything of interest in the cove, until she spotted the paper.

It was written in Hiccup's cramped handwriting, and she drank in the words greedily.

But she found herself with more questions than answers at the end, and brought it back to the chief.

He read it slowly, his eyes widening in some parts and narrowing in others.

_Well, I'm just sitting in the cove with Toothless now. I was trying to draw him, but he's too darn excited to sit still._

_Useless reptile._

_Anyway, he's real excited to see me today, maybe because of the fact that I told him today._

_Yeah, I know I've just been entertaining the notion before, but this time it's decided: I'm going to run away._

_I don't really want to leave; who will help Gobber in the forge, or smirk at Snotlout's misguided attempts to get Astrid, or heck, even watch over Dagur when that hellion visits Berk again?_

_But…I can't stay here. Every time I think of staying, I get this really heavy feeling, and I just know that I've reached my lowest point so far, and if I stay, it will just get lower._

_Anyway, enough of that._

_Today is not a day to get depressed, Hiccup. Today is a day to be happy. Look at Toothless – he's delighted, even though he knows he's going to miss Berk._

_He didn't really want to stay either._

_Well, I guess that in these next few days I'll be saying a lot of good byes. _

_Not out loud, of course. No one can know I'm planning to run._

_But maybe with luck we can _

The journal entry ended there. The edge of the page was jagged, as though it had been shredded, and Stoick suspected it had.

But by who?

Had this "Toothless" perhaps, done something to the paper? From the sound of it, the Toothless in the entry sounded suspiciously like a dragon.

Phrases from the journal entry ran through Stoick's mind: _useless reptile, today is not a day to get depressed, I'll be saying a lot of good byes, I've reached my lowest point so far…reached my lowest point so far…my lowest point so far…my lowest point…_

* * *

**A/N: Anyway, hey guys! I'll try to work on this one more often, but I'm reaching a block! :P Anyway, I've also reached a block in my other stories, not to mention I MIGHT attempt Camp Nano Wrimo in April, so the most you guys will get from me in these next few months will probably be one-shots. I'll try to keep this updated, though! **


	5. The Flightless Ones

The sun was setting as Hiccup fell into a deep slumber, Toothless curled up beneath the boy's auburn head, his thick, scaly back acting as a pillow for the boy.

As Hiccup slept, a small baby Night Fury, not yet having been taught the harsh ways of Vikings, crawled curiously over to Hiccup and began to lick his cheek, tasting the familiar flavor of dirt.

The boy had not washed today. He was clearly in a traveling state.

And he slept lightly; his heart pounded far too hard, his eyelids fluttered and he moved in his sleep.

Someone in a deeper sleep would be stiller and his or her heart would be beating to a much slower tempo than this.

The baby Night Fury flinched at the pain in his gossamer-thin wing once again.

He'd been flying low, snagged himself on a tree branch, and now part of his wing had been torn off.

He would never fly again.

He hadn't been able to turn back for his family, otherwise he was sure one of the other dragons would have been able to heal him or at least kill the pain.

But he couldn't fly back to them, and the Night Fury wasn't trained in the art of swimming.

So here he was, stuck on an island alone, until the boy and the Night Fury had come, eaten and fallen asleep, unaware of his presence.

Some ancestral memory told him to run when he saw the boy, but his reason argued back: the boy was the size of a toothpick, and a sickly one at that.

Furthermore, instinct told him to trust, and the Night Fury always followed his instinct, no matter what it led him into, which was normally a big mess.

He curled up next to the boy, yawning, revealing pink gums, a forked tongue and no teeth.

Night Furies didn't have teeth until they reached about five years of age, at which point they were deemed old enough and survived alone the rest of their lives.

This Night Fury might never reach that stage, with his torn wing.

He yawned again and fell into a deep, deep sleep.

* * *

Hiccup awoke to the smell of smoke.

He sniffed the air again, thinking that Toothless must've made a fire.

And then the smoke became more of a burning smell, like burning cloth and there was a mild pain on his left shoulder…

"Augh!" Hiccup sat upright and tried to keep calm as he attempted to pat out the fire on his left sleeve.

The fire died down and he saw what had caused it: a baby Night Fury, sleeping peacefully beside him, blowing smoke rings and occasionally bursts of fire.

_Oh great, _he thought to himself. As if one Night Fury wasn't enough.

"I suppose you want something from me, too?" he asked the sleeping dragon, who of course didn't respond.

"C'mon, little guy." And he gently scratched the dragon behind the spikes on his back.

The dragon woke up, blinking large, innocent eyes at Hiccup, and only then did Hiccup realize they were not striking green like Toothless', but silver, sparkling silver, full of life and innocence.

The dragon yawned and sneezed, spewing a small stream of fire at Hiccup, who scooted to avoid it and said, "What's wrong, little guy? Why aren't you with your family?"

And then he saw it: a truly sickening sight, the Night Fury's wing had a large tear, nearly from the wing joint at the back to the spiky end.

Hiccup made a noise of sympathy in the back of his throat. "That must hurt, Silver."

The name slipped out of his mouth and Hiccup smiled. "Silver. I like it."

The dragon liked it, too, giving Hiccup a toothless smile.

Hiccup scratched the dragon under the chin and said, "You know, I have some experience with injured Night Furies. Do you want me to try and help you?"

The dragon stretched his little wings to their fullest extent and Hiccup saw how bad the wound really was: there was dried blood around the area and it looked painful.

Hiccup stretched out a hand. "Let me help you."

The dragon waited patiently while Hiccup slowly cleaned the wound with some water from their canteen.

He took the end of his shirt, ripped it easily and fashioned it into a bandage for the dragon, and slowly wrapped it around the wound. "There," Hiccup said softly. "Now at least you have a chance of flying again."

And then, on impulse, he hugged the little dragon close to him. The dragon pressed his ear to the boy's thin chest; he could hear a strong steady heartbeat that comforted him.

"I know how you feel," the boy whispered. "My wings were clipped once, too, a long, long time ago. We can be the flightless ones, you and me."

* * *

**A/N: Well, what do you think? I wrote this chapter in a total burst of inspiration. Once I hit the words 'Hiccup hugged the dragon' I was overcome by feels :-)**


	6. The Single Flightless Bird

**A/N: Gah! This chapter is depressing.**

* * *

Over the next few weeks, the Night Fury (whom Hiccup affectionately called 'Silver') began noticing encouraging signs from his wing.

Hiccup checked it and cleaned it every morning and Silver could at last stretch the wing painlessly, though there was a hairline crack in it that remained and probably always would.

He could hover a few feet above the ground, but would always tumble back into Hiccup's waiting arms.

He formed a friendship with the boy and began liking the other Night Fury a lot, who the boy nicknamed 'Toothless'.

Silver had known "Toothless" when the dragon was still part of the nest, and he was surprised the creature allowed Hiccup to call him that.

One day, he proudly nudged Hiccup, showing off his fully healed wing, apart from the scar, of course.

"Ready to go back to your family, then, Silver?"

Silver nodded happily, then stopped abruptly. He would, he realized with a surprising intensity, _miss _this boy who had cared so tenderly for him these past few weeks.

Hiccup allowed him to soar joyfully alongside Toothless as they rode back to his family.

Silver shivered, remembering the life of slavery he would be forced into when his parents deemed him old enough.

Hiccup noticed and said, "You alright, Siv?"

Silver nodded, for he couldn't very well explain and found himself hoping that this hiccup would be the one to free them from the dragon queen's death grip.

"I'm gonna miss you, Siv," Hiccup said, giving the dragon a quick hug.

The dragon licked his cheek.

Hiccup remembered his words from a few weeks ago as the dragon was joyfully reunited with his family.

"_We'll be the flightless ones, you and I."_

Hiccup swallowed. Now it was just him, the single flightless bird who had never taught himself how to fly, for his wings had been clipped too soon.


	7. Hiccup Would Never

Hiccup's entry had only confused Stoick.

It sounded suspiciously like Hiccup had gone on the run with a Night Fury, in which case there really was something mentally wrong with him.

Or he had just run away with a friendly little sheep.

Stoick prayed it was the second option.

Hiccup frustrated him and tried his patience to the extremes, and sometimes Stoick wished he was some other boy's father, but he truly loved Hiccup.

No matter what, Hiccup was always gonna be his son, and nothing could change that.

* * *

Astrid went back to the cove the next day and she couldn't shake the feeling that something important resided there, whether it be a clue to Hiccup's whereabouts or something deeper.

There was a small thicket, ringed by trees that shielded the entrance from outsiders, all except Hiccup and Astrid, who were sharp-eyed.

She found a large, deep depression in the grass, as though something hugely heavy had lain there.

Not to mention glistening black scales.

No.

Hiccup wouldn't.

He didn't.

He would never…

Had he?

She had to tell Stoick.

* * *

**A/N: So, guys, I realize it has been quite a long time, but I got mixed up and lost a lot of work on Chapter 7. So that was discouraging.**

**I'll probably be able to update weekly. Every Thursday or Saturday. Probably Thursdays *and* Saturdays. How is that? **

**It's rare that I do this, start a story that I get bad writers block on and end up hating the writing and the plot and basically everything about it until I get newly inspired. I'm working on two other stories, cut me some slack! **


	8. You Don't Get to Rewind

Hiccup urged Toothless onward. "Let's go, bud."

There was just one flightless bird now – him.

Hiccup and Toothless flew far that day, until the sun set and the world became dark and cold.

When the sun really did set, Toothless flew low over an island, and they landed there.

Hiccup watched the water glisten in the moonlight, and then glanced up at the night sky, dotted with icy points of light that cared nothing about the lost, lonely boy below them.

Hiccup felt like crying as he gazed up at the stars. But all he did was turn to Toothless and say very quietly, "We're on our own now, Toothless. Not even the sky cares about us."

It was a lonely feeling, he thought.

Toothless blew a fireball on a meager pile of tinder Hiccup had collected, and though Hiccup warmed his hands over the blaze, his heart still felt cold.

And no amount of fire could warm it.

* * *

Hiccup awoke early the next morning, and they shot up into the sky.

But just like last night when the fire couldn't banish the coldness, the wind and flight couldn't lift away his worries.

Hiccup sighed, wishing he could rewind the day.

He'd do everything differently.


	9. I Don't Believe You

Astrid sighed. It was pathetic, really, how much she had spent thinking about Hiccup these past few days.

Yes, she realized, he was always sweet to her and he looked cute whenever he was being an idiot, which was often

But he had always just been an annoying little gnat she could swat!

But now that he was away, she found herself thinking about him more than usual.

The way he looked at her with all the love and affection and innocence of four years in his forest green eyes.

That was what she was thinking about now.

Oh, she'd find a different side of him to worry over in a few hours, of that she was sure, but for right now she was trying to puzzle out what that look meant.

It was surely the look of lost friendship, she told herself. Wondering what our lives could've been like if we stayed friends…

She swallowed, banished Hiccup from her mind and started running for the chief. She heard his voice issuing from the blacksmith forge.

* * *

Gobber sat in the forge, looking over at the hammer he had been about to twist on his hand.

The reason for this sadness was simple: he missed Hiccup.

He had thoughtlessly called, "Hiccup, do you think you can get me my hammer?"

And then he'd remembered why he didn't hear the boy's sarcastic response.

He was gone.

And he would probably never return, Gobber realized. Why should he?

The people of Berk had never been nice to him, but all the same…

That little red-haired string bean was always getting into trouble, and what if he already had?

What if he had met a dragon on his way?

There would be no Stoick or Gobber to bail him out this time and that's what worried the blacksmith.

Stoick, meanwhile, had entered the shop with the air of someone who has reached an inevitable, though unpleasant, conclusion. "I have to find him."

Gobber looked up. "Huh? Who?"

Stoick sighed, and rubbed his temples with two fingers. "Hiccup. Just think about it, Gobber, the boy could get in trouble in any number of ways."

"Stoick," Gobber said, "listen. Remember the days when all you did was smart off to your parents and break curfew? You were…what, thirteen? Fourteen? That's probably the stage Hiccup is going through, only a lot more extreme. Just give him time to cool off, and he'll be back."

"No, he won't, Gobber," Stoick argued. "Astrid found a paper of his in this cove, and he was talking like he had a dragon with him."

"Stoick, I don't think it's anything you need to worry about," Gobber said. "The kid was lonely. He wanted to see the world. But he's not stupid, no matter how rebellious he gets. He's always gonna come back, and he's a smart kid. He knows what's good for him and what's not."

Gobber spoke with such authority that Stoick almost believed him, but Gobber was worried on the inside, too.

Stoick didn't know Hiccup as well as Gobber did, and Gobber knew that running away from Berk with a deadly dragon in tow was just the sort of thing Hiccup would do.

Not to mention how lonely he was these days…

Astrid Hofferson suddenly burst into the room. "You have to see this, chief!" she panted. "Cove…with…Hiccup's paper…" she was panting harder now, from running. "Night Fury…scales…" She bent over, hands on her knees, caught her breath and opened her hand to show a glistening black scale, the scale of a foreign dragon.

A Night Fury, Gobber knew. They had pictures of the other dragons in the dragon book, but the Night Fury was nearly impossible to catch a glimpse of.

"You found dragon scales in Hiccup's cove?" Stoick demanded. "Where were they?"

"In this little canopy of trees," Astrid explained. "It was darker in there, and the path to it was strewn with fur from Hiccup's vest and boots and paper from his notebook. There was a really deep depression in the grass in parts of the cove, and they were really big, too, like something big and heavy had lain there. Sir, I think—I think your son might have run off with a Night Fury."

"Impossible!" Stoick exclaimed. "Night Furies are the unholy offspring of lightning and death and one would've killed Hiccup on the spot the first time they came face-to-face."

"Not if the Night Fury couldn't move." Gobber had gone very still, and the words came through stiff white lips.

He was hearing Hiccup's words in his head again, searching madly for any ring of truth in them.

"_Okay, but I hit a Night Fury."_

And no one had seen him miss, but no one had seen him actually hit one, either, so they took the more likely course and ignored him.

And then, when Gobber had walked him home, hadn't Hiccup tried to convince him of his success?

"_I really did hit one."_

"_Sure, Hiccup."_

And Gobber hadn't believed him.

Should he have?

Had that Night Fury become Hiccup's ally?


	10. The Night Fury Won't Get Away

Hiccup and Toothless flew farther, until they passed several more dragons, clutching fish or sheep in their teeth.

Toothless roared at them, and they roared angrily back, flying farther away.

"Toothless, what was that all about?" Hiccup suspected he must have known those dragons when he lived in the nest.

Toothless began following the dragons silently, and after awhile, they came upon a volcano.

The dragons flew straight down inside it, and Toothless followed them.

Hiccup didn't even try to get them out of there; Toothless knew what he was doing.

Hiccup saw a hole shrouded in fog in the center of the volcano. It glowed with a sort of reddish light, much more sinister than any volcano Hiccup had ever seen.

Toothless flew behind a rock formation so as not to be seen by the dragons.

Hiccup saw another fully-grown Night Fury drop a couple sheep into the hole and go off to a ledge close to theirs. Silver lurked on the ledge and smiled when he saw the Night Fury, whom Hiccup assumed was his father.

Silver's father shielded the baby with his wings and retreated farther away from the hole, Silver right behind him.

Toothless began to growl softly, and that's when it happened.

A Gronckle flew in, flying low over the misty hole, and opened its mouth.

A small, half-eaten fish fell out and the Gronckle flew higher, going for a nearby ledge…

And the teeth closed over the unfortunate dragon.

Hiccup saw a Zippleback shaking her head in anger at the Gronckle's death.

Disgusted, Hiccup drew back.

The teeth were longer and thicker than one of Stoick's muscular arms; the scales around the mouth and nose had been dirty and pale, as though the creature had not seen sunlight for many years, shut up inside the nest.

The beast's enormous nostrils flared suddenly; it smelled the familiar scent of a Night Fury, but beneath the familiarity there was a foreign scent.

A human? It thought with pleasure. Has one of the creatures of the night given me fresh meat?

It had been so long since it had a real human to feast on…hopefully this one would be bigger than the last one.

Yes, it had to be a human. A dirty one, the beast reflected. Traveling, maybe, on the run. But then, Vikings weren't very careful with their appearance.

But this human smelled much better than the last one, although his heartbeat was weaker…

It liked a strong, steady heartbeat that indicated the human would put up a struggle.

Would this one? The great beast wondered idly.

Its nostrils flared again and it opened its heavily fanged mouth and drew nearer to where the Night Fury was…

No, the scent was more familiar the closer it drew to the other dragon.

The Night Fury had the smell of a traitor all over him, and he carried the human on his back, instead of in his talons, the way any self-respecting dragon would.

Not to mention the dragon's nose caught the familiar scent of leather…its eyesight wasn't very good anymore, but it guessed the leather scent came from something on the dragon itself.

Was the Night Fury dressed in human wrappings? Was he shameless?

Had he come back to the nest to taunt her about getting away?

Well, she would teach him, the beast thought savagely, and lashed out at the ledge.

But the Night Fury flew away at the last second, swirling upward…

He made it, she thought bitterly, sinking back down into the nest. He had gotten away for the second time.

The first time she hadn't really believed he could have betrayed his kind so completely, but after smelling the human situated on his back…

She was good at sensing human emotions, but she saw the human had felt no fear. He had so completely trusted the Night Fury to get him out safely.

That was not the thought of someone that was about to be supper.

She sank back into the nest and glanced up at the moon. Just its faint light hurt her blind eyes.

And next time, she swore to herself, he wasn't going to get away.


	11. She Never Got to Tell Him Goodbye

Hiccup was trembling a bit as they flew out of the nest.

"Toothless, bud," he asked. "What WAS that?"

They flew on through the darkening night.

* * *

Astrid sat on a rock in Raven's Point, thinking it all over.

Could it be possible that Hiccup really had run away with a Night Fury?

The more sensible part of her snorted at the idea.

Hiccup the Useless, friends with a Night Fury? Impossible!

Yet the idea still lurked at the back of her mind.

She'd been wrestling with it for hours.

Snotlout came up to her.

"Hey, beautiful," he cooed.

"Leave me alone, Snotlout." She didn't even have the energy to punch him.

"Aw, don't be that way, babe," Snotlout chuckled.

Astrid got a firmer grip on her axe. "One more word. I'm telling you, one more word…"

"Oh, c'mon, Astrid, what are you thinking about?"

She sighed and pointed threateningly at Snotlout. "If you tell anyone, you're dead…but I'm thinking about Hiccup."

"Why are you thinking about that loser?"

"He was not a loser!" Astrid found herself defending him even though she didn't really want to.

Snotlout held up his hands. "Fine. Childhood friends…I get that, Astrid, I really do. But come on. He was just a big freak. Don't tell me you're missing him."

"Well, you know what, I am!" It was a relief to get the truth out. "And you know why he ran away? Because of us; because of you, and me, and Fishlegs and the twins, because we never gave him the time of day! Cuz' his own father didn't even like him! Cuz' he had no reason to stay on Berk and we treated him terribly! And he's probably out there, kidnapped by Outcasts or…hurt or…" she trailed off, gripping her axe tightly. "So, yes, Snotlout, I do miss him."

Snotlout sighed. "Fine. So you miss the whelp."

"He wasn't a whelp—

"Ok! So you miss Hiccup."

"Yes, I do." Astrid lifted her chin.

Snotlout rolled his eyes. "Then maybe you're a freak, too."

"Maybe I am!" Astrid yelled. "But it's better than being a self-centered little douche! At least I can see past my own muscles."

And she stormed off.

* * *

**A/N: So if Astrid having angst is keeping you satisfied for awhile, maybe you will not judge me for possibly starting a new story and putting this one on the back burner. DON'T LOOK AT ME THAT WAY IT JUST MIGHT NEVER GET COMPLETED. **

**Lol. Was anybody else practically in tears at the end of the episode, We Are Family part 2? I know I was.**


	12. Drawings

**A/N: A couple of you couldn't find We Are Family part 1 or 2 or any of the show online these days, so here's where you can find all the episodes: go to Google, type in livestream/cfdragons. It should come up. Type it in the search bar at the top, not the google one. It'll be the first one that comes up, and will have all the ones from the first season. It will also have Gift of the Night Fury, and some extras.**

**Also, the livestream runs all the time, so it'll be playing a commercial, then an episode when you click on the link. It should be the first one to come up. **

**Good luck!**

* * *

Snotlout stared after her, at a loss for words.

Astrid had really just defended Hiccup? Despite the two being cousins they loathed each other.

He thought just let her cool off.

He swallowed and shoved his thoughts away in a different direction.

* * *

Gobber steeled himself then drew back the curtain leading to Hiccup's workshop.

He hadn't been there ever, but he remembered Hiccup taking the smallest hammer to use and never gave it back.

He needed it now even if he would much rather have stayed away from this room until Hiccup came back.

That was what he called it: not if, but WHEN.

He yanked the hammer off the wall and went to hobble back out before he saw the walls; they were plastered with papers of all kinds and each had a unique drawing.

He watched Hiccup slowly get older through the work; the drawings became more defined, sharper, the charcoal stick becoming steadier in his long-fingered left hand.

The oldest drawings showed clever weapons and snares but he caught a few of the Viking kids.

They were well done but he saw just from the drawings Hiccup's feelings about them.

There was more squid ink on Snotlout's drawing than anyone else's, and Astrid's was done the neatest, Hiccup's handwriting showing her name in his simple printing.

He spotted a picture of Stoick amongst them smiling proudly down at the viewer then another where Stoick was clearly angry.

"I'M SO SORRY" Hiccup had written in easily readable block letters over the drawing of the furious chief.

Gobber looked at the rest but they all showed weapons or the familiar faces but he found one that made him stop cold.

A picture of a beautiful dragon, obsidian scales shining in the sunlight and staring curiously at the viewer.

He was staring down and his eyes held all the affection of a best pal.

Gobber watched as the drawings quickly shifted from traps and weapons to that dragon, not just any but that particular one.

It also began showing a beautiful cove where the sunlight shone brightly through the trees with their large flat leaves.

There was also a sketch of Berk, the rooftops little specks and the grass close as if he had lain down before sketching it.

There was another of Hiccup himself riding the dragon.

Gobber gasped; Hiccup, riding a dragon what was he thinking?

Find him. "Got to," Gobber whispered, letting the pages fall from his meaty hands. "Got to get Stoick."

And he ran from the forge leaving Hiccup's drawings scattered there, as full of heart as if Hiccup had given each sketch a little piece of his.

They fell to the floor sadly as if the faintest blast of breeze had picked them up and decided it didn't want the drawings' baggage anymore.


	13. The Right Thing Is Never Easy

**A/N: Hey. It has been awhile hasn't it? xP Anyway, thank you all who followed this story, I have 112 followers! That's pretty cool! I realize Astrid doesn't act totally in-character in this chapter, but who cares?**

**I really like the way this story is shaping up now, I quite enjoy the abstract concept of Hiccup with a backbone lol since he didn't really have one in the movie.**

* * *

"We have to go back." The words were spoken with a sigh and the boy wouldn't look at his friend as he spoke them.

The dragon eyed him curiously. Why?

"Well, now that we know why dragons attack, we got to tell the others. They can't just keep killing them and I don't want the creatures to attack my home."

Hiccup sighed, buckling in for the flight back to Berk. "It's the right thing to do, it's the right thing to do," he reminded himself.

* * *

It was around noon when Astrid heard it, sitting in the cove where Hiccup's paper had been found.

There was a few thuds and then, "Whoa, Toothless!" Hiccup's voice.

Astrid sat bolt upright, gripping her axe very tightly. She was NOT imagining it…

"Toothless, come on, somebody else might see you and if they do, it'll be a massacre. Far better to make you stay here and then let people see you after they know that dragons are good. Or at least okay. Ok?"

Astrid began walking towards the sound. When she saw Hiccup standing there, she stopped dead.

Because he was pushing a Night Fury away. Gentle and friendly, his touch on the Night Fury's side was, but Astrid was surprised the thing didn't scorch him.

She gasped. "Hiccup!"

Hiccup jumped and attempted to shield Toothless. "Please, I can explain—

"Hiccup!" And then she was hugging him and his arms were careful and warm through the thick fabric of her blue shirt.

The dragon suddenly decided he wanted in on the hug, too, because he nuzzled his way in.

Astrid fell back with a shriek. "Hiccup…what is that?"

It was as though the dragon had been temporarily erased from her brain for a few seconds as though he had not mattered and to her, he really hadn't.

At least not until Hiccup was back.

"Astrid, it's okay…he's okay…" Hiccup hesitated, then swallowed. "Don't tell the village."

"Why not? Hiccup, you caught a dragon, a…a Night Fury and you just want to keep it a secret? You could kill this thing in front of the entire village and you just—

"I'm not like that, ok?" Hiccup yelled.

Surprised at his intensity, Astrid pulled away.

"Why did I even come here?" Hiccup demanded of himself, rubbing his temple with two fingers. He shoved a lock of red hair away. He looked dirtier than he had a few weeks ago, Astrid noted. His hair was an absolute wreck and his face had dirt and scuffs on it.

A few strands of his dark hair stood straight up. "Why did I even come here?" he repeated. "I'm a fool."

"Hiccup, why…DID you come back?" she asked, trying not to sound rude, but instead curious.

"Because I'm an idiot!" Hiccup told her, spreading wide his hands. "That's why! But you're right, I should go, it's not like—

"Hiccup, what are you doing?"

"Search me. I come here, expecting nobody to notice and the first person I run into is Astrid Hofferson! Way to go, huh?"

He was muttering bitterly to himself more than to Astrid.

"Hiccup, what are you doing? Running away with a Night Fury, coming back here after worrying everyone –

"Everyone, yeah, that's a laugh," Hiccup said. "What, I guess Gobber accidentally called to ask me to come get something in the forge?"

"A lot of people missed you," she told him. "I was one of them."

"You know what, why am I doing this?" he asked.

"Astrid, there's something you should know. Call me cuckoo, but I'm not, and it's totally true. Every word I tell you right now is true."

A swift, cold breeze began blowing as the teens regarded each other. "What are you going to tell me?" she finally asked, breaking the ice.

"Listen, dragons are okay. They attack us because they need food to feed this gigantic thing on their island, it lives with them and will eat them if they don't cooperate—

"Uh-huh." She cut in skeptically.

"No, Astrid, I'm totally serious!" Hiccup said earnestly. "U—

"And how exactly do you KNOW all this?"

"Toothless." He motioned to the dragon and with a start Astrid realized Hiccup was referring to him. "He flew me to the island and it was pretty bad, I watched that thing eat all the food and—

"Hiccup, why?" Why had she ever even missed him? Why had she regretted leaving him as a friend?

He was nothing but the village screw-up still, that much was clear. Why let him eat up the attention he wanted?

"Why what?"

"Why did you come back here? Stop spreading stupid lies. If—

"If dragons are bad, would I be able to do this?" Hiccup spread his hand out to the thing and the beast responded. He pressed his snout into the boy's hand.

Astrid snapped, "GET AWAY FROM THAT THING!"

Hiccup glared at her. "No, Astrid, you get away."

"What—

"You go away. If you don't believe me, fine! What do I care? Get all yourselves killed fighting the dragons instead of focusing on the real enemy, then!"

Astrid winced. Somehow she hadn't really expected that.

"You, none of you, ever cared about me when I was here. Why should I care about you guys, now?"

Astrid said, "Hiccup—

"No. You never cared. So, now, _I _don't care. It's my decision this time. Berk has taken away a lot from me, but they're not taking this. They're not taking my free will, too." He turned and got on the dragon.

Before she could say a word, Hiccup was up in the air, becoming a smaller dot on the horizon by the second.

Astrid swiped at her eyes and found them dry.

But it didn't matter anymore. Hiccup had a point. The villagers of Berk had treated him awfully and now he was finally getting some pride back. And he had more self-respect than this. He just didn't want to deal with them anymore.

I've been so horrible to him, Astrid realized to herself. And now it's finally making sense, why he left. He should _hate _us. Hate us with a passion.

And yet, he didn't. He had come back to warn them. He said he did not care, yet he'd come back to warn them and that just wasn't not caring.

That was a boy who cared but was scared that caring would just end in him getting hurt all over again.


	14. Decision

"Stoick!" Gobber burst in the chief's house. "Stoick, look, you have to see this, just have to, look what I found!" He shoved a sheaf of papers under the chief's nose. He shook them.

Stoick took them from Gobber and flipped through them. They all showed the same dragon, and in one, Hiccup was even riding the creature. Stoick's face first went white, then red.

It stayed on red. "Find the boy," Stoick told Gobber. "We have to find him. Send out ships, search the whole of Berk again. I…I don't see why he would even do this."

And Gobber, who knew Hiccup better than anyone, understood. He understood why Hiccup ran away, he understood now hearing the boy mutter in his backroom in the smithy. He understood the boy looking for a dragon.

He understood it, even if he didn't particularly like it.

The boy was lonely.

That's why he'd run with the dragon.

The boy was upset.

That's why he'd run in the first place.

But the part Gobber didn't understand was the feeling he was still waiting to crop up in Hiccup. Anger.

Shouldn't Hiccup be feeling nothing short of rage at Berk?

The villagers had caused him nothing but pain and yet…was he still just upset?

Had he realized it wasn't him that brought on the teasing and name-calling? Hadn't he realized it was the village's fault, not his?

Wasn't he furious?

When Gobber left the house, he found Astrid waiting for him at the forge.

She was spinning her axe in one small, long-fingered hand and when she saw him, she set it down. "Can I…can I get my axe sharpened?"

Gobber saw through her very transparent excuse and knew she just wanted to talk. "What happened?"

"I…Hiccup. He came back."

"What?" The axe tumbled from Gobber's hand and he quickly snatched it up before it scuffed the floor. "What are you talking about?"

"Hiccup. He came back, Gobber, and…and…" Astrid put a hand on her forehead, over her blonde bangs. "He was talking to me about how dragons aren't so bad, and…and…" And suddenly Astrid trailed off again. Because she wasn't going to betray his secret. Throughout it all, she realized there was still a small dollop of loyalty left between them, and she couldn't bring herself to break it.

She couldn't tell Gobber about the dragon. She could tell him about how the boy had had claims of dragons being okay, really, but did she have to tell him the sort of company Hiccup was choosing to keep at this moment?

"What he was spewing was all lies or fairy tales, of course, but I couldn't help but just let him lie, you know?"

Gobber nodded. "I know, Astrid."

There was silence.

"Where is he now?"

"He left," she explained. "There's no chance of finding him…he left in a different way." The only ways Vikings knew how to travel were on foot and by sea.

"Astrid." Gobber handed her back her metal blade. "You can cut the crap. I know about the dragon. I know Hiccup ran away with one." He was holding her gaze, and she sensed he'd only said this because he was waiting for her to confirm it for them.

She shook out her hair. "You do?"

"Yeah," Gobber replied. "I was hoping it was a lie, a lie made up by a paranoid old man, but…it wasn't. Apparently."

His mouth dragged down at the corners.

Astrid shoved her hair away from her face. "I know."

There was a few minutes of silence between the two, and Astrid finally broke the ice. "Does Stoick know?"

"About Hiccup being on the run with a dragon? Definitely not for sure. I'll have to tell him."

"Wait!" Astrid said. "No, you can't."

"Why not?"

"Because…because—Astrid struggled to think of a reason, but came up empty. The best she could think of was, what if Stoick kills the thing?

Why would she care?

* * *

**A/N: What do you think? Is Astrid OOC? I think she is :( **

**But Gobber, I think, is well IC :D **

**Well, I definitely know where this story is going now and it's heavy. It's going to be VERY sad, the ending is, so please don't continue if you don't like getting depressed :P**


	15. Brought Back

**A/N: Whoa, LOL. Warning this chapter is really dramatic. I don't feel it's unrealistic, just dramatic.**

* * *

Hiccup rode on through the falling night feeling lost. "Why'd I try, Toothless?" he asked thin air. "Why did I try?"

The next day, Hiccup and Toothless sat down on a gritty beach. "Just for a few minutes, then we leave," Hiccup told him.

When they were safely away, Hiccup's tight grip on Toothless' reins relaxed.

It was then that the calls began.

"Night Fury!"

"Get down!"

Hiccup, startled, looked down. There was a ship below him, a ship with the Berk crest on the mast.

Hiccup was only looking at it for a moment before the outburst was heard. "Wait! FIRE!"

"TOOTHLESS, GO!"

Toothless tried to fly away, but by the time Hiccup realized it was the position of the prosthetic tail fin, arrows were flying and so were flaming rocks.

He fell off Toothless and hit the deck with a thud, taking his breath away.

Toothless fell, too, unable to fly without his talking fishbone of a rider.

As Toothless hit the deck, the Vikings crowded around, struggling to catch a glimpse of the thing.

Toothless immediately stood up, growling, his white teeth showing.

Hiccup tried to climb on his back, but the Vikings' strong fists encased him.

"No! Give him some room, he'll blow this whole thing apart!"

Toothless began building up a breath…

"No, Toothless, don't shoot!" The boy's yell was the only thing that got through to the creature and he glanced up at Hiccup.

It had worked. Toothless was no longer going to shoot. He had just sucked his fire back.

Thank Thor, Hiccup thought.

The next second, they were chaining him up, coming at him with weapons and Toothless took it all docilely but his green eyes were fixed on his human.

He ran forward, through the crowd of Vikings, but Toothless pushed him back.

Hiccup said, "Don't hurt him! Don't hurt him!"

"Don't...hurt him."

* * *

**A/N: Yeah...there's something missing in this chapter. And anyone who has been complaining about the length, don't say it was missing 'words' lol.**


	16. Not My Son

**A/N: I originally had no more plans to update, but Chapter 15 was JUST SO FREAKING LAME that I had to update again. Thoughts? Also, all we have is one chapter, then another filled with Hiccup angst and then Hicstrid! :D Then the sad stuff.**

* * *

When they arrived back on Berk, the dragon and the boy were both taken to the chief.

Stoick stared from the dragon to Hiccup and back again.

"Oh please don't hurt him!" Hiccup said.

Stoick eyed him coldly. "How on earth could you do this?"

"Dad, dragons are good. They really are…they really are okay, they're just misunderstood."

"Hiccup," Stoick told him. "Zip it."

Hiccup did.

"How could you?"

"Dad…"

"How could you?" Stoick demanded, putting his meaty hands on Hiccup's thin shoulders. "How could you do this to us?!"

Hiccup's small frame shook as he tried to compose himself. "I…I…" he thought of a thousand little reasons. "I didn't do anything! I was getting to know the only person who has ever cared about me for me!"

Stoick just stared at him. "Cared? Cared? You're lying to yourself, and you're the only one that's fooled! A dragon can't care! They don't have any thoughts but to kill!"

"I don't believe that," Hiccup told him. It was the first time he'd ever stood up to his father. "Toothless is the only friend I've ever had, the only person in this world who has ever cared about me. You think I'm a disappointment; you don't give a damn about me. Don't come in here, prancing around and asking me 'how could you?' The question here is how could _you?"_

Stoick winced. "No, Hiccup—

"Yes. Yes. Now free Toothless and let me go and we will never be seen on Berk again. How is that?"

Stoick folded his arms. "I don't want to hear it."

"You don't want to hear anything," Hiccup told him. "Here I stand, holding all the answers to help stop the war with the dragons and you still won't listen? How pigheaded does a man have to be, that he won't listen to the words of his own son?"

"And as for stopping the war with the dragons," Stoick told him, "I know the way. We find the nest and destroy it. Send them running."

"No," Hiccup said. "No, that's not the way! If you do that, you'll only be tightening the noose around your neck! You can't do that, Dad! This thing in that nest…it's…it's…it could kill you!" he finished lamely.

"You've seen it? The nest?"

"Ah…" Hiccup realized he'd gotten himself into a deep hole.

"Did you? How do you get there?"

"I didn't," Hiccup tried. It came out sounding a lot more afraid than he had just a few minutes ago. "Toothless found it, humans can't find the nest, only dragons can—

"Dragons?"

Hiccup realized he'd better put down the spade. "No, Dad, no! I…you can't! It can kill you! Don't!"

Stoick stared down at him for a minute, then started walking away.

"No, you can't! Dad! Listen!" Hiccup's voice went louder in his panic. "Dad—

Stoick brushed him aside, completely ignoring his son. Hiccup called after him frantically, "Wait!"

He said, "Please, Dad, can't you just listen to me for once in your life?!"

Stoick turned and shook him off, letting him hit the floor hard. "You're not a Viking," he told him. "You're not my son."

* * *

**A/N: Hiccup. Ouchhh. That's gotta hurt. I don't really know how Stoick would react to seeing Hiccup with a dragon after his son just ran away on him, but *shrugs* I don't read any other 'Hiccup runs away' fanfics, mostly because the idea isn't terribly original and most of the time they don't really do it right. I'm just taking a wild guess here and saying mine is much different from most people's, because Hiccup meets a baby Night Fury and there really is no Hiccup and Toothless closeness. To me, the closeness was already there, so the fact that I've done nothing to deepen their bond can hopefully be ignored.**


	17. Somebody to Talk To

**A/N: The Hicstrid is here! :-) Also, I apologize for my last AN. I said people who write Hiccup runs away fics don't do it right, but I meant they're not my taste. I know, I know, what am I doing writing one?**

**It was originally going to be before he met Toothless, but I decided that would quickly get boring if he didn't have someone to talk to.**

* * *

It was there that Astrid saw the situation with perfect clarity.

Hiccup stood on the edge of the cliff alone, and Astrid knew he needed somebody to talk to him.

He needed somebody to shake him and get him out of this mess, but…

But it can't be me, she realized. She walked up to him on the edge of the cliff, knowing staying silent was not going to do any good, that things between the teens and Hiccup were too screwed to even try to mend.

Was it so wrong to want them to be twelve again, completely removed from the worries of the world?

Before they knew the definitions of words like 'bullying' 'teasing' and 'runt'.

Before Astrid knew the definitions. Before the first two defined her, too.

Before she'd told him goodbye, and told him he was a runt, the weakest one in the pack and that he'd better get used to it because no one was ever going to be his friend.

She had not, in truth, said those words precisely, but she felt almost like she had.

She stared at Hiccup for a second, trying to take everything in at once.

His dark, auburn hair, his bright, eager green eyes, his pale, freckled skin, his low, sarcastic voice.

He was Hiccup, the village idiot, and yet…there was something in him, some core, some CENTER he had looked within himself and found and Astrid would never have known the difference between them if she had not looked right then.

The village idiot had turned into someone more confident, stronger.

He didn't need them. He'd never really needed us, Astrid thought, but it seemed that he really didn't need them now.

Because hurting was the only way she knew how to show emotion, and because Hiccup needed to be shaken and hit and told to get his butt up, she punched him.

He winced and rubbed his shoulder. "What?"

She sat down. "Hi."

"Is that your greeting?"

"Pretty much," she grinned at him, showing perfect, white teeth.

Hiccup didn't smile. Instead, he seated himself beside her. "How close do you think they are?"

"Huh?"

"How close do you think my dad is to the nest?" Hiccup demanded.

Astrid hadn't even been thinking about that. "Well…I don't really…does it even matter?"

"Of course it matters!" Hiccup said. "The closer he is to the nest, the more the minutes slip into seconds and time runs out. And for him, it's game over. He's not coming back, Astrid."

The words tumbled out of him in a rush, as though he'd spent a long time thinking them over and wanted to tell her them before she walked away.

She put a gentle hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "What do you mean? Can you…explain? What's in the nest? Start there."

"It's a gigantic dragon," Hiccup said quietly. "It's a killing machine. You won't believe it until you see it, but it forces the other dragons to do its will, to get food for it, and…and…" Hiccup was so distraught he couldn't even finish his sentence.

Astrid nodded. It didn't matter, she decided right then and there, if Hiccup was lying or not. She didn't think he was, for what more did he have to gain by lying? "And?" She prodded. "What about before the nest? What about when you ran away? That's the one I THINK I can understand, but…it's still hazy."

"I wasn't gonna do it," Hiccup told her, carefully not looking at her. "I mean, I was sick of it. Telling Snotlout to shut up didn't do anything, you never knew I was alive, my dad ignored me for fourteen years…" he shrugged. "It just didn't matter. You know? Nothing on Berk mattered to me."

Then he stood up again. "What is talking this out doing?"

He sounded angry, then, impatient.

"What about before?" Astrid prodded. "What about when you met Toothless? What caused you to get to know that thing?"

"He…" Hiccup sat back down slowly. "He was never mean to me, the way…" he stopped. "…everyone else was." But Astrid sensed he'd changed something just before he spoke.

"He was curious about me, like I was about him. Whenever I looked into his eyes, I always saw a duplication of what I was feeling."

"And?"

"And…I don't know. That's just IT. That's just IT, Astrid." He was beginning to get impatient again.

"Shouldn't he have killed you when he first met you?" Astrid asked, and then she thought of the one time she'd noticed Hiccup: "Okay, but I hit a Night Fury."

It had never occurred to her that he'd actually hit a dragon. And now he had. How insane was that?

"No, he couldn't kill me. He was tied up. I shot him out of the sky."

"That's incredible," she breathed.

He didn't even smile or look up at her at all. "Yeah. Maybe. I think it was just a stroke of luck that I hit Toothless at all. It was night; Night Furies are born for night flying. I shouldn't have been able to see him, at all, but he'd just set a building on fire and I saw his outline against the light."

Astrid smiled, thinking of Hiccup staring up into a black sky for the Night Fury. She realized she'd begun to call it a him in her mind.

Hiccup sighed. "Astrid—

"So there's a big dragon in the nest, right?"

"Yes."

"Well…" she paused, then smiled at him. "What are you waiting for?"

Hiccup sputtered for a second. "What…you…"

She winked at him and waited for it to reach him.

He stood up. "You weren't doing it to torment me."

"No."

"Thank you, Astrid." The words sounded so grateful, so deep, that Astrid couldn't help but swallow and smile.

"Go."


	18. Battle

**A/N: So this is my next update. I realize a lot of you have been asking where's the next update? For any of you who are writers, you know that writing takes ten times longer than reading. The only reason I've kept this updated so quickly is because I consider writing fun!**

* * *

"Cool," Astrid said as Hiccup led a Nadder out of its cage. Normally she'd be readying herself for a struggle right about now, but seeing how calmly Hiccup acted…it almost assured her the dragon wasn't going to attack…almost. She still very much wished she could have her axe with her, but Hiccup had made her discard it before entering the ring.

"Yeah, that will make her nervous," Hiccup had told her.

Astrid grumbled, but still disposed of it.

And now Hiccup stood in front of her with a Nadder.

"Cool!" Astrid said, as though this were all in a day's work for a Viking. "What do we do now?"

"We ride her," Hiccup replied, and jumped on the thing's back. "C'mon." He gave her his hand, scarred and calloused from years in the forge.

She took his hand. It felt firm and trustworthy, and she felt her fear at riding a dragon vanish at the feel of holding his hand. She climbed up behind him.

He jumped back off, yanked up a piece of rope, and tied it around the Nadder's waist. "It's not terribly sturdy," he admitted, giving it a harsh yank. "But it's makeshift, and I can't do anything right now."

He hopped right up on the Nadder's back, clutching the tie. "Hold on tight."

Astrid at first didn't listen to his order, then realized she must obey when they were up in the air.

The Nadder was flying as gently as she could, but the ride was still bumpy, and she was living in constant worry of being kicked off.

She wrapped her arms around his thin waist.

They rode in silence for a long time, until they reached a misty fog.

It was thick and gray and Astrid found she couldn't see three inches in front of her.

"How does the Nadder know where she's going?" she whispered. It felt proper to whisper in a place as creepy as this.

"Animals have better eyesight than humans. We're nearly there," Hiccup replied, also in a lower voice than normal.

Astrid waited as they slowly landed on a pebbly beach. "We're here," Hiccup said. "That's clear, but nothing…no one…"

"Where do you think they—?"

But Astrid never finished, because next second there was a loud roar.

"We're too late," Hiccup said and the Nadder took off again. "We're too late…"

But it seemed Hiccup was counting his chickens too soon.

For out of the fog rose a truly gigantic shape, and several Vikings bravely trying to fight it, the others all running hell bent for leather for open sea.

"You weren't kidding." Astrid told him. "That thing is giant."

"Wait 'til you see it up close," Hiccup replied grimly.

They flew closer and Hiccup said, "We have to try to distract it."

But then the queen swooped down and leaned to bite Stoick, but the Nadder flew in like a brightly colored, exotic bird and snatched him up in her talons.

"Is he alright?" Hiccup asked as the beast set Stoick down on the pebbly beach. When he looked back and saw the chief, it was with an expression of complete shock in his eyes.

"Okay. Okay." Hiccup noticed, for the first time that the ships were on fire.

"Ok. Ok." He spotted Toothless amongst the brightly colored flames and said, "There!"

He got the Nadder to set him down there and began unbuckling Toothless, trying to get him out before the fire burned everything on this ship to embers.

"Okay, I'm getting you, buddy," Hiccup said quickly, frantically. "Just…hold…on…"

He popped Toothless' muzzle off, then began pulling the chains off, even without the key.

"I got you, buddy, I got you…"

Toothless undid the chains with his snout and lips. Then he pulled himself erect and stared at Hiccup for a long minute before Hiccup seated himself on Toothless' back and said quickly, "Go, Toothless."

They flew upward, where Astrid was struggling to distract the dragon.

"Hiccup!" she cried when she saw him, completely out of air. She sucked in another breath, the wind whipping her hair into her eyes. She didn't totally trust herself on this thing and wondered why Hiccup had let her do this by herself when she didn't know the first thing about flying.

"Astrid—

But his shout was cut short by a loud roaring as the thing decided she didn't like the two beasts – more specifically the Night Fury.

The Night Fury was a complete and total traitor to the nest and now he had come back to taunt her again.

No more, she decided. Ignoring the other one, she went straight for Hiccup and Toothless. Her nostrils flared as she caught the unfamiliar, smoky scent. It smelled of saltwater and pine needles and wood smoke…unlike any other human, most of whom smelled like they needed a good shower.

But this one was still just a human, she reflected. And he deserved to die, just like the other Vikings.

Come here, she thought in her mind. Come here and let me finish you…

She opened her side eyes, using them for the first day in a long time. She saw a blurry picture of the black Night Fury and the Viking riding atop. Why, it was a boy, and he was surely no bigger than this thing's nostril! She thought. Maybe it was an offering, after all.

She leaned down to swallow both the boy and the dragon, but the dragon shot a jet of flame at her and flew away.

Okay! She said angrily to herself. So that's the way it's gonna be, huh?

I didn't have to fight for fourteen long years, she thought to herself. I was born for fighting. Time to show that Night Fury what I can REALLY do.


	19. Not Breathing

**A/N: Please don't hate me...! **

* * *

Astrid merely watched as the creature dived for Hiccup and Toothless, but then she shot a fireball at it to confuse it…She still wasn't 100% sure she knew how to work this thing, but she would be taught. She was a fast learner.

Astrid purposely stood in the way as the thing swooped down for Hiccup and Toothless again, and realized it might possibly have a grudge against the boy and the dragon for some reason.

Hadn't he visited the nest before? Hadn't he done something to earn her anger? Had he?

She swallowed and heard Hiccup's nasal voice, snatched away by the breeze. "C'mon, is that the best you can do—?"

"Be safe," she whispered to him, but too late – the monster had already swooped down to finish her off as well.

"Whoa!" The thing was attempting to suck her down its gullet.

She gripped the Nadder's rope for dear life, which it was. "Whoa!"

Toothless zoomed by, blowing a lazy fireball to help her.

The dragon was forced to let her fall as the fire separated Astrid from the dragon.

And then Toothless had her by the extreme edge of her boot and she was skimming the pebbly ground. She could've reached out and touched it if she wanted.

Then they set her down and she was watching them take off in the sky and she was saying, "Be safe."

She knew they couldn't hear her, but she whispered it anyway, more to give herself assurance than anything else.

Hiccup glanced at the dragon, wishing he'd thought this through better than last time.

But he'd simply rushed on ahead, just like the last time, never giving the 'danger' part a thought. Who had cared if it was dangerous? He asked himself. The village needed dragons.

He sighed and told Toothless, "Okay, bud…"

And then it hit him.

Only a few months ago, Toothless had been laying on a deserted shore with him, munching on fish…

"Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?"

Not so fireproof.

It collided with Hiccup like a ton of bricks, and he suddenly could see it in perfect clarity; he now knew what to do, how to kill this thing…everything.

Now if only they could act upon it.

He could feel the thing spreading her wings behind them, taking off for flight.

She chased them into a heavy gray cloud of smoke, and they stared around, Hiccup squinting as hard as he could through the dense gray smoke.

Any second now it was going to happen, the thing was going to come at them, and if it worked, it worked, if it didn't, they were pretty obviously screwed. If the Vikings on the pebbly beach had a grain of sense, they'd be trying to ride away by now. Astrid could take two big ones and three small ones on her dragon, but what about if they didn't make it in time?

What if some blatantly refused?

Did they know it would turn out to be their only chance at salvation?

Please, Dad, he prayed, have some common sense.

On the ground, staring forlornly up at the gray sky, all Astrid and the Vikings could see were flashes of blue light – Toothless' fireballs.

They also saw the bursts of flame from the monster in the nest, that awful, ungodly thing.

Astrid prayed once again for Hiccup's safety.

Hiccup is brilliant, she tried telling herself. He'll know what to do.

But it seemed Hiccup DIDN'T know what to do. For he circled the dragon again and again, looking for an opening, but she was giving nothing away.

Her strengths had yet to be revealed, but so did her weaknesses. Hiccup had a mental list of what he knew about her:

She was big.

She was a firebreather.

She had six eyes, as opposed to the normal 2.

She was capable of quick take-offs and flight.

She was much, much bigger than Hiccup and Toothless – a fact they might be able to use to their advantage.

"OK. Time's up." He said, checking the burning tail fin. The queen had burned it with a fireball.

Right now, though, his mind was still with the blown-up Terrible Terror, praying to Loki he could recreate the effect.

The dragon opened her great, toothed mouth, drool dripping off the tip of her three-foot long fangs…

"Toothless—

But Toothless didn't need any urging. He was already building up a fireball in the back of his throat.

Green smoke began pouring out of her mouth and with it a sickly sweet scent that Hiccup found unpleasant. He leaned over and coughed, the smoke getting in his lungs. He coughed again and turned back to the dragon queen. Silently daring her to come closer.

The dragon queen met the challenge, gas still pouring out of her mouth by the bucketful. "Now Toothless."

And Toothless shot a quick fireball at her, leaving the dragon to choke on it.

Choking on the Night Fury's fire, she gasped and began slowly falling, the breeze tearing larger holes in her torn thin wings.

Hiccup watched her fall then found themselves falling too.

He gripped to Toothless' harness.

Maybe they could fly away just fast enough…

_You've flown too high Dragon Boy._

Hiccup coughed out the smoke and saw the fake tail fin falling, his last hope burned…

Toothless couldn't fly either he realized.

No matter what happened, Toothless had to be saved.

Don't. The word echoed in his head as he thought this. Don't die Toothless. Please.

Then he looked up and saw the tail with the spiky ball on the end was coming straight for them.

Hiccup crashed into it and everything went black as he fell into the roaring explosion's flames.

Toothless panicked and swooped down to catch him.

He managed to clasp him safely by the leg and was about to get as far away as he could and as quickly as he possibly could.

* * *

The ashes were still falling.

Whiteness all around.

Crackling flames.

Smoke. Soot.

Astrid coughing, hearing other people, total strangers, coughing beside her.

Stoick whispering a mental prayer to Thor and Woden and Freya.

The dragon landing, opening his wings just long enough for them to see the broken body he had salvaged, curled in a little ball, holding onto Toothless for dear life.

Stoick gently took the body from Toothless and held the chest close to his ear as the Night Fury quit breathing.


	20. Goodbyes Are Always Hardest

**Please don't hate me :D I mean well. Anyway, this is the last chapter. There are no sequels blah blah blah. Thanks for your support, even if you read but didn't review, follow or favorite! It really means a lot to me, guys! :3 **

* * *

There was no heartbeat.

No heartbeat from either of them.

The boy and the creature who had both survived so much, lived even when there was nothing else to live for gone. Dead.

And Stoick could never tell Toothless he was wrong about him. His kind.

He could never tell Hiccup just how apologetic he was.

The villagers hung their heads in perfectly silent grief; the creature wasn't breathing or moving either.

It was nice that they died that way.

Death could not keep them apart and neither wanted it to.

It was an almost entirely silent ride back to Berk as they moved away, carrying Toothless and Hiccup on the ships.

They would have, Stoick promised, a proper Viking funeral.

* * *

The arrows were on fire when they were shot up in the air, streaking the clouds.

They all hovered around the rain-stained graves until the rain picked up speed and everyone but Astrid Stoick and Gobber moved away.

Stoick sighed heavily. How he wished he had gotten to make things right!

Oddly, he felt numb. It was like a mist swirled around inside his head chanting, "This isn't real, this can't be real, Hiccup is alive".

It did it over and over again.

Astrid for her part was crying. She had been crying when she had fallen asleep last night and she had cried as she went to the funeral and she cried as they threw dirt over the last bits of her friend.

Viking funerals would ordinarily consist of them sending the two off the island in two separate caskets but Stoick had decided to bury them on Berk, in Raven's Point Forest, for they remembered it was always one of Hiccup's absolute favorite places to be.

Gobber was regretting it. He wished he hadn't told Stoick to send a search party out.

If he wasn't so concerned for the kid's – the kid's damn SAFETY, above all things – this wouldn't have happened.

'If I had not instructed that he go after the Red Death', Astrid thought, 'this would not have happened'.

'If I had even TRIED TO STOP IT,' Stoick said silently.

Even they cleared out eventually and the rain pounded on, hard through the night and eventually wore itself out but never did the boy and dragon lying side-by-side feel anything.

The graves remained forever on Berk, and villagers visited often, keeping true to the words on the carved stones:

"Goodbye, Hiccup and Toothless,

We thank you for your sacrifice,

And promise we will keep your names strong in our hearts forever after."


End file.
